This cocoa pecan pie has an amazingly flaky, buttery crust and a no-bake chocolate pecan pie filling. It freezes nice, and you may make it with all-purpose or gluten-free flour.
Folks appear to be loving my Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars, so right here’s one other chocolaty pecan deal with.
At present’s recipe is predicated on my corn syrup-free Gluten-free Pecan Pie. For at the moment’s recipe, I diminished the quantity of maple syrup and elevated the brown sugar to make it a bit inexpensive.
I additionally decreased the quantity of general sweetener as a result of I added chocolate chips. You’ll positively need to use semi-sweet, bittersweet or darkish chocolate.
This pie could be WAY too candy with milk chocolate.
I additionally elevated the quantity of butter, considering the added cocoa powder. I didn’t desire a dry, crumbly pie!
The result’s chic.
Substances
Right here’s an outline of what you’ll want.
For the pie crust:
Should you’re gluten-free, learn the part about gluten-free flour beneath.
For the filling:
Easy methods to make it
I’ll let the images do the speaking! The total recipe, with ingredient measurements and directions, are beneath the submit and above the feedback part.
“This recipe seems to be too lengthy! Bah!”
The filling is made by merely mixing all of the filling substances collectively.
The pie crust isn’t any extra sophisticated than every other pie crust recipe, however I’ve included plenty of element. In order that’s why the recipe seems to be lengthy.
Do I’ve so as to add the chocolate chips/chunks?
No, you may omit them and use extra pecans of their place.
Can I omit the cocoa powder?
Properly then you definitely don’t desire a cocoa pecan pie. 😉 Please see the pecan pie I linked to on the high of this submit!
It has an oat flour crust, however you should use the traditional pie crust in at the moment’s recipe, for those who want.
Are you able to style the apple cider vinegar within the crust?
Undoubtedly not. Should you don’t have any, you should use white vinegar.
Some folks say it inhibits the gluten (for those who’re utilizing all-purpose flour), and that tenderizes the crust and makes it flaky. I’ve seen folks declare the identical for gluten-free pie crust, though it doesn’t have gluten.
I used vinegar in pie crust for the primary time with this recipe. Then I learn this individual’s experiment. They mentioned it didn’t do a factor.
Vodka, nevertheless, appeared to have a optimistic impact! I’ll strive that subsequent time. For now, I’m thrilled with this crust, for the primary time ever making a flaky pie crust, so I’ve included the vinegar within the recipe.
Ought to I toast the pecans first?
No have to. Should you did that, the pecans that float to the highest of the pie would burn because the pie bakes.
I truly thought I had barely burned my pie when it got here out of the oven. The pecans appeared and even smelled slightly burned.
However as soon as the pie had cooled, nothing tasted or smelled burned.
However for those who take a peek whereas baking and are fearful about it getting too brown, you may cowl the pie with foil.
The highest of the pie will probably be dry effectively earlier than it’s finished baking, so you may simply cowl it with out the foil sticking to the pie. It’s also possible to use a pie defend if the crust seems to be prefer it’s browning an excessive amount of, however my pie crust was nowhere close to getting too browned.
The dry high of the pie truly makes it tough to know when it’s finished. The highest will probably be dry when the filling beneath remains to be a puddle of liquid.
55-60 minutes is what I wanted, however all ovens are totally different. It’s higher to bake it too lengthy than too brief!
The crust
I’ve been saying it for years, however I’m not a fan of regular pie crust. I discover it boring and a waste of energy.
This one is scrumptious, although! I added vanilla and extra salt than regular to the pie crust to provide it some taste.
I’ve one other recipe arising with this crust, sadly not in time for Thanksgiving, and after I had reduce out a couple of items, the pie truly slid across the pan, and I might decide up the pie and maintain it in my arms.
Which may sound like a bizarre factor to say, however I’ve gone by means of dozens and dozens of dangerous pie crusts over time. They’d stick with the pan, be greasy, and on and on.
However that is the right crust! I additionally tried it out on the filling of this Chocolate Fudge Pie, and it got here out nice.
It additionally works for recipes wherein you want a totally baked pie crust with a no-bake filling.
You may make it with all-purpose flour or Bob’s Pink Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. Should you’re gluten-free, you’ll need to learn the gluten-free part beneath.
I wouldn’t advocate attempting it with white entire wheat.
If you wish to use that, I’d discover a recipe that already requires it. It’s a bit extra absorbent than common flour.
It’s also possible to use a store-bought pie crust for those who want.
Do I’ve to relax the dough?
Each good pie wants an amazing crust. One approach to obtain that’s to relax the dough and let it relaxation briefly earlier than rolling it out. The additional step could appear insignificant, however it’s the key to getting the optimum crust, even when utilizing gluten-free flour.
Refrigerating pie dough, gluten-free or not, solidifies the fats, stopping it from overmixing into the flour, which helps preserve the construction because it bakes. Moreover, the flour absorbs moisture within the dough, producing a flakier texture.
Non-chilled dough is much less easy and crumbly, which makes it more durable to roll out. It might additionally brown rapidly and be powerful with a extra intense buttery style.
And for those who’re utilizing all-purpose flour, the resting time helps loosen up the gluten within the dough, which helps stop a troublesome crust.
So don’t skip this step as a result of it’s one of the best ways to realize an excellent flaky crust.
Ought to I blind bake the pie crust?
I didn’t, however you may if you’d like the pie crust backside further crisp.
I blind baked this pie crust about 8 occasions with different fillings, and it labored nice each time and by no means burned. At present, I blind baked a pie after which had it within the oven with the filling for an additional 70 minutes!
It was at a decrease temperature, however nonetheless. It was nowhere close to getting burned.
To blind bake it, right here’s what to do:
- Loosely cowl the highest of the pie crust with plastic wrap and place it within the freezer (not fridge!) for 45 minutes.
- Whereas it’s in there, preheat the oven to 400 °F (205 °C) and place a baking sheet on the baking rack that can suit your pie.
- Line the crust with a chunk of parchment paper after which fill it with pie weights/ beans. A variety of sources say it’s good to fill all of them the way in which to the highest of the pan, however I simply did the underside, and it was high quality.
- Fastidiously place the pan on the now extremely popular baking sheet and bake for 20-23 minutes or simply till you see the tops of the crimped edges beginning to very frivolously brown.
- Take away the pan from the oven. Take away the parchment paper and weights and bake the crust for an additional 5-7 minutes or till the underside of the crust is dry and beginning to brown. Now you can flip off the oven and switch it on once more in quarter-hour, or simply maintain it working.
- Take away the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to chill utterly – about half-hour. After about 20 minutes of cooling, begin getting ready the filling and switch the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
Do I’ve to bake the pie crust on a baking sheet?
No, however it’d be foolish to not. That is why:
- It’s simpler to drag the pie out of the oven when it’s on a baking sheet.
- I’ve made this precise pie recipe, as written, 4x and by no means had butter soften down from the crust or had the filling bubble over. Not even shut. However possibly your pie pan is slightly smaller, your model of butter works slightly in a different way, or no matter.
what actually stinks? To drag a pie out of the oven after 10 minutes of baking as a result of there’s burned butter on the underside of your smoked-filled oven. You’d have to scrub up the mess earlier than placing the pie again within the oven, and the crust, and maybe the entire pie, could be ruined.
It’s a extremely irritating and unhappy state of affairs that may be 100% prevented through the use of a baking sheet.
- Cook dinner’s Illustrated did an experiment. The cherry pie they baked instantly on the oven rack had a soggy, juice-soaked crust. The crust of the pie baked on the baking sheet was stable and never soggy. You’ll be able to learn the reason why on the hyperlink. It’s fascinating, however this submit is getting overwhelmingly lengthy. 😬
What sort of pie pan to make use of?
Because you’re going to be chilling or freezing the pie crust dough after which inserting it in a scorching oven, you’ll need to examine your pie dish to verify it’s protected to take action.
Most ceramic pie dishes must be protected from the fridge or freezer to the oven, however it’s not common, so examine the producer’s directions. Ceramic pie dishes warmth slowly and evenly, they usually can face up to sudden temperature adjustments.
When utilizing Pyrex or glass bakeware, keep away from excessive temperature adjustments as a result of it might trigger the dish to shatter and break. Glass pie dishes are nice as a result of you may examine the underside to see if it has browned. Nonetheless, you don’t need to probability it by inserting it in a scorching oven instantly from the freezer.
Fashionable oven-safe glass pans are designed to face up to reasonable temperature adjustments, so taking a dish from the fridge to the oven set at 350 °F (175 °C) must be protected, however not your grandmother’s dish. I like to recommend erring on the protected aspect until you’ve finished it earlier than and are assured your dish can face up to the temperature change.
Steel pie dishes are usually made out of aluminum or aluminized metal and are nice warmth conductors. They’re excellent for blind baking or pre-baking pie crusts and getting the crust good and crisp.
Steel dishes can face up to excessive temperature adjustments, so you may take them from the fridge or freezer and put them straight into the new oven. However maintain a detailed eye on them as a result of they will warmth rapidly and overbrown the crust. If it seems to be browning too quick, you may place foil strips over the sides of the pie to maintain it from over-browning or use a useful pie defend.
US butter vs. US European-style butter vs. precise European butter
This pie tastes SO significantly better with US European-style or precise European butter (that means butter produced in and for a European nation – not butter exported to the US from Europe). It’s fairly boring with common US butter.
US European-style butter works the identical as US butter. They can be utilized interchangeably.
BUT! Precise European butter from Europe will not be interchangeable with US butter or US European-style butter in all recipes. Particularly pie crusts!
I actually can’t perceive why precise European butter works in a different way than US European-style butter. I’ve appeared up the fats share of some manufacturers of US European-style butter, they usually’re 82%, identical to the butter in Europe. It is unnecessary.
However I can let you know after residing in Germany for 14 years, the 2 kinds of butter aren’t interchangeable. I’ve a provide of US butter in my freezer and check all of my baked butter-containing recipes with each kinds of butter, so I can see the distinction aspect by aspect.
So on the off probability you’re in Europe and have entry to US all-purpose flour or the Bob’s Pink Mill GF flour I discuss beneath, it’s good to use 110 grams of butter + 3 grams of water rather than 113 grams of butter.
It sounds foolish, I do know, however it makes a giant distinction.
The explanation I point out the flour is as a result of flour will be vastly totally different relying on the place you reside. It’s finest to discover a pie crust recipe from the nation the place you might be.
So many US expats I do know spent their first vacation seasons confused about why their pie crusts had been swimming in butter or why their cookies unfold completely flat. The butter and flour are accountable!
Reside exterior the US?
Along with what I mentioned above, it’s good to take note of egg dimension. Medium eggs within the EU = massive eggs within the US. So for those who’re within the EU, it’s good to use medium eggs when making US recipes (they virtually at all times name for big eggs). Should you’re not within the EU, you want eggs which can be 50 grams with out their shell.
Utilizing eggs which can be too massive or small would positively impact this recipe, so please simply don’t knowingly use the incorrect dimension. 🙂
Do I want a meals processor?
I believe it’s a lot simpler to make use of one, however for those who don’t have one, then you may make it by hand. I used a pastry cutter to chop within the butter.
I really feel like I had to make use of slightly bit extra water to get it hydrated, which resulted in a barely much less crisp crust, however it was nonetheless good!
Can I exploit a special crust?
Pecan pies are on the candy aspect, so that you don’t need to use a cookie-like crust for this recipe. I don’t advocate a gingersnap, graham cracker, or oatmeal cookie crust like on this Eggless Cheesecake.
Can I freeze this pie?
Sure! It freezes nice. You’ll be able to even eat it straight from the freezer. At the very least from my freezer.
However you couldn’t style the crust when it’s so chilly. Simply plenty of chocolate taste! It’s finest to let it sit for possibly half-hour after which serve.
Gluten-free model
It’s laborious to imagine that is gluten-free when utilizing Bob’s Pink Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour! I used to be sort of shocked.
I believed I’d get significantly better outcomes with King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour. I used to be so confused after making it the primary time and having such implausible outcomes that I believed I had grabbed the incorrect bag of flour.
I instantly made it once more with Bob’s and obtained the identical outcomes.
Then I attempted it with the King Arthur GF flour, and the outcomes weren’t wherever close to nearly as good. Okay for gluten-free pie crust? Sure.
However the very best ever gluten-free pie crust? Nope. It wasn’t in any respect flaky.
How do I make this paleo?
You’d first should discover a paleo pie crust. There’s no approach to make the pie crust recipe beneath paleo.
I actually wouldn’t advocate a nut flour-based crust. Maybe one with cassava flour and/or starches, together with some nut flour. However not a recipe with 100% nut flour, as I’m fairly certain the crust would get soggy.
For the filling, you’d want to make use of 5.5 tablespoons (77 grams) refined coconut oil rather than the 6 tablespoons of butter. Additionally, use coconut sugar as an alternative of brown sugar, arrowroot/tapioca starch as an alternative of cornstarch, and paleo chocolate.
Vegan choice?
Sorry, however no. There aren’t any good subs for the eggs within the filling.
I hope you’ll get pleasure from this cocoa pecan pie! Should you strive it out, please let me know beneath the way you favored it. 🙂 Thanks!
❀
- Prep Time:
- Cook dinner Time:
- Prepared in:
- Yield: 12 slices
Substances
- 1 1/4 cups (156 grams) all-purpose flour or for gluten-free, use 1 1/4 cups (173 grams) Bob’s Pink Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour + a tiny bit extra for flouring
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon high quality sea salt
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter (ideally US European-style butter for the very best taste!), reduce into 8 pats
- 1 teaspoon chilly vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon chilly apple cider vinegar
- 2.5 to five.5 tablespoons (37-81 grams) chilly water
- 1 cup (200 grams) gentle brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (160 grams) pure maple syrup
- 6 tablespoons (84 grams) unsalted butter, melted and nonetheless heat
- 3 massive eggs (50 grams every, out of shell), room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons (17 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups (193 grams) chopped pecans
- 2/3 cup (113 grams) semi-sweet, bittersweet or darkish chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Crust:
Filling:
Instructions
- Get out an ordinary 9” (23cm) pie plate. It must be one which’s protected to maneuver from the fridge to a scorching oven (see submit for more information). Don’t grease it.
- To the bowl of a meals processor fitted with an S-blade, add the flour, granulated sugar and salt. Pulse a couple of occasions.
- Flip it to the bottom pace and add within the butter. Course of simply till you might have pea-sized bits of butter. Don’t overprocess! Cease pulsing.
- Evenly drizzle the vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar excessive.
- Activate the bottom pace and pour in 2.5 tablespoons of water. The quantity of water you want will depend upon how chilly your substances, kitchen, and so forth. are. I’ve made this a number of occasions with the identical model of substances, and have wanted between 3 and 5.5 tablespoons.
- Course of very briefly till it seems to be prefer it’s coming collectively. It’ll look shaggy and never like a uniform ball. Pinch some collectively. If it stays collectively with out being crumbly, it’s prepared. You do not need to add an excessive amount of water. Extra water than obligatory = non-flaky pie crust. Should you suppose it wants a bit extra water (it virtually actually will), add extra water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Should you suppose you may type a disc with it with out it falling utterly aside right into a thousand crumbs, that’s one other clue it’s prepared.
- Place the dough within the middle of a big piece of plastic wrap and wrap it up right into a flat disc, about 1” (2.5cm) or rather less. Should you can’t type a disc as a result of it’s nothing however crumbs, it wants slightly extra water.
- Refrigerate for at the very least 45 minutes and as much as 2 days.
- Place a baking sheet on the baking rack (one within the decrease third of the oven) that can suit your pie. That is for the impossible case that one thing spills over and for a crisper crust backside. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
- Very frivolously flour a chunk of parchment paper and place the unwrapped dough on there. Sprinkle a tiny little bit of flour excessive of the dough.
- Place the plastic wrap or one other piece of parchment paper on high of the dough and roll it out in order that it’s about 1/2” (1 1/4 cm) wider than the highest circumference of your pie plate.
- Take away the piece of plastic wrap or parchment protecting the pie crust, place the ungreased pie pan on high of the dough, after which flip over the dough and pan. Press the dough down across the edges on the backside of the pan after which take away the piece of parchment paper.
- Fold the dough up so it isn’t hanging off the edges, and crimp the sides. The dough ought to go all the way in which up the sides and be crimped alongside the rim.
- Place within the fridge, uncovered, for at the very least quarter-hour whereas getting ready the filling.
- In a big mixing bowl, stir collectively all filling substances apart from the pecans and chocolate, sprinkling on the cornstarch and cocoa powder fairly than plopping down a giant clump. If there are any eggy bits that are not popping out, take away them, or they’ll bake up ugly.
- As soon as mixed, stir within the pecans and chocolate chips.
- Pour the filling into the unbaked chilled pie crust, however don’t pour so excessive that it goes over the crust! My photographer and I had loads of room left over with our customary pie pans.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes or till the center is about.
- Place on a cooling rack to chill utterly, about 2-3 hours, after which refrigerate for at the very least 2 extra.
- Refrigerate any leftovers for as much as 4 days. It additionally freezes nice for as much as 3 months.
Make the crust:
Make the filling:
Notes
- Should you dwell in Europe, use 110 grams butter + 3 grams of water to copy US butter for the pie crust. As a substitute of 84 grams of butter within the filling, use 82 grams (and no water). Additionally use medium EU eggs as an alternative of enormous eggs.
- I put the vanilla and apple cider vinegar collectively in a tiny bowl within the freezer for about 10 minutes, and the identical with the water. I don’t put the vanilla/ACV and the water collectively in the identical bowl since you won’t use all of the water.
- Should you take a peek whereas baking and are fearful about it getting too brown, you may cowl the pie with foil. The highest of the pie will probably be dry effectively earlier than it is finished baking, so you may simply cowl it with out the foil sticking to the pie.
- It’s also possible to use a pie defend if the crust seems to be prefer it’s browning an excessive amount of, however my pie crust was nowhere close to getting too browned.
- The dry high of the pie truly makes it tough to know when it is finished. The highest will probably be dry when the filling beneath remains to be a puddle of liquid. 55-60 minutes is what I wanted, however all ovens are totally different. It is higher to bake it too lengthy than too brief!
